Juno - B+

In theaters. Rated R, 93 minutes. Trailer.

Getting pregnant is a funny thing. One woman's inconvenient truth is another woman's godsend. Juno is the third of the 3 mainstream accidental pregnancy movies of 2007, preceded by Waitress and Knocked Up. The 'woman' in this film is Juno (Ellen Page), an 'East Dallas' wisecracking 16 year old. She has been impregnated after having sex with Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), and has decided to give the baby up for adoption. The adoptive parents, played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, are the best part of the film due to their well written parts and great performances.

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The film is written by ex-stripper, former novelist, current 'it' screenwriter and backpage Entertainment Weekly columnist Diablo Cody, the 'story' of this years awards season (for more on her admittedly interesting backstory, go here and here). The screenplay is full of lines like: "You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events."

Director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking) tells the story in a straightforward manner, allowing the showy dialogue to be the star. Juno is a typical alterna-kid that thinks she knows everything. At first, she handles the pregnancy with less concern than a dental filling, going cavalierly to the Women Now abortion clinic to do the dirty business. On the way in, she runs into a zealous but fairly portrayed protester that has classes with Juno at their high school. After an awkward stop and chat, the protester tells her the baby has fingernails and a heartbeat. This knowledge causes Juno to bail on the schmsmortion in the waiting room. This take on pregnancy is different than in Waitress or Knocked Up, where 'termination' is never considered. I thought this scene was well written, acted, and directed. That is a very difficult needle to thread, and they do it. The protester is earnest but not overzealous, and Juno makes the right (ed. comment) choice to keep the baby and give it up for adoption.

The best part of the film is Juno's interaction with Garner and Bateman, an upper middle class couple that cannot get pregnant and has turned to the 'penny saver' to get a baby of their own. Garner conveys the pain and tragic nature of her situation, and Juno's indifference to this is the most obvious sign of her immaturity. Her character is obsessed with becoming a mom, but isn't pushed into a caricature. Bateman is a former rocker that can't come to terms with adulthood and several other things, and his role is also well written and acted.

Overall this is a really good movie. The dialogue is overly reliant on phrases like 'meat sword' and 'thundercats go', but does bring it home and each character is well written and multi-dimensional. Comparisons to Little Miss Sunshine are misguided, unless you mean that it is an Oscar contender when it shouldn't be. This is better than Waitress but not as good as Knocked Up.